Panvel flyover opened to traffic

Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan on Thursday inaugurated the 2.4-km Panvel flyover,the construction of which started in 2009. The flyover built under a project by the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) is expected to solve a major bottleneck in the area.

The 17-m flyover starts at Ashoka Lawn and ends about 300 metres ahead of the junction at Gandhi Hospital. The main structure of 1.5 km,has two arms of 437 metres each,one at the New Panvel junction and the other a little beyond Dr Ambedkar junction.

“A bus depot and a bus stand in the vicinity creating a lot of traffic jams. Panvel residents will now be freed of such recurring problems,” the chief minister said. “The flyover will also encourage people to take old Mumbai-Pune Highway. The flyover will save a lot of time and fuel,” he added.

The flyover was built at a cost of Rs 140 crore as part of the MMRDA’s extended Mumbai Urban Infrastructure Project,under which it is constructing 14 more flyovers,17 roads and three creek bridges.